Sharon Stone has canceled plans to shoot a short film in Mississippi to protest the state’s recent passage of its “anti-LGBT” religious liberty bill.
In a statement addressed to Mississippi Film Studios President Rick Moore, the 58-year-old Basic Instinct star said she would no longer work in “any state” that passes religious freedom legislation.
“I will not work in any state that holds or is actively creating laws to legally support discrimination against American citizens whether due to their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, nor where those laws are passed or approved by the government of said state,” Stone said.
Stone’s short film, The Principle, will be shot in another location, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
The Principle is described on its crowdfunding website as the second film in the “Films for Peace” series. The film, directed by Academy Award nominee James Cromwell, explores the “dangerous levels” of cyber-bullying among today’s adolescents and teens. Stone will play a “wise master who is called upon to moderate between two teenagers — a cold-hearted cyber-bully and his tragic victim.”
The film reportedly has a production budget of $300,000, but the film’s crowdfunding website is seeking an additional $100,000.
It had collected $1,315 as of Wednesday night.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed HB 1523, or the Religious Liberty bill, into law last week. The law allows religious organizations and some private businesses to refuse service to LGBT people based on their religious beliefs.
The law also bars local communities in the state from enacting their own anti-discrimination ordinances, and mandates that transgender people use public restrooms that corresponds with their biological sex.
Stone is the latest celebrity to boycott the state over its passage of the law; earlier this week, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams canceled a scheduled concert in Biloxi in a show of protest.
Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr canceled scheduled concerts in North Carolina over that state’s passage of its own religious freedom law last week.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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